Paul Matthews give us our weekly Alchemy for Managers Tip

Most people smile much less often than they think, yet smiling is important
for building rapport and helping others to feel comfortable.

How do you feel when you smile?
Pretty good!

How do you react to others who smile?
They are easy to like!

So notice how often you smile. Keep a mental smile log

People are different, so what would YOU need to do so that you genuinely smile more often?

Read up on this further at More stuff on body language

The U.S. Department of Defense has taken obtaining feedback, to dizzying new heights by creating Santos, as part of the Virtual Soldier Research program at the University of Iowa.  Santos has been created to find ways to ease the physical strain on soldiers. It’s designed with a complete bio-mechanical muscular system to provide feedback on speed, fatigue, strength and torque.

Santos is a highly realistic virtual worker who doesn’t just simulate motion, but also records the actual physical strains of reaching, lifting and stretching. For example, in this particular area of his expertise, he is able to perform tasks and give feedback, on whether over months and years these movements will cause back strain. In this way, by using the knowledge learned from Santos, the US military can make the necessary adjustments needed until the optimal way is found to get the job done.

If that wasn’t incredible enough, Santos, has been taken a step further. He has moved from the virtual battlefield to the virtual assembly line. Santos is now in the testing phase at Ford, used as a computerized avatar that performs actions in the virtual world, that can allow Ford to improve quality, safety and ergonomics in factories before an assembly line is built.

The feedback that the US Military and Ford are gaining from Santos, is how to analyze human limits with dynamic motion. Our virtual soldier, with his capability in predictive dynamics, will aid in increasing efficiency as well as safety and quality.

360 degree feedback works on the same principle. A well executed 360 degree feedback, should prompt measurable changes in the behaviour of the receiver. Performed correctly, a 360 degree feedback review will create assurance around strengths, and indicate a clear pathway of essential areas for people to work on.

As the US Military, Ford and 79% of the Fortune 100 companies understand, to be effective at anything, we have to find a way to get constructive feedback. In the case of the military, Santos is used to work out the best way to equip soldiers for battle. In the work environment, 360-degree feedback is a powerful tool for creating awareness of an individual’s strengths and development areas, by measuring performance against a range of key criteria.

360 degree feedback is an essential and effective tool for those who want to improve in life…..in any industry.

Paul Matthews give us our weekly Alchemy for Managers Tip

When they come and ask for help, you have a great opportunity to focus on training your team to think through problems.

Unfortunately, that’s the very time when it’s easiest to just tell them what to do.

Instead, help them to explore the problem. For example, what are 2-3 possible things they could do, and why would one action be better than others.

Encourage their thinking, and use the opportunity to coach them, rather than tell them.

Next time they will be better equipped to deal with the problem on their own.

Read more about The manager’s role

Paul Matthews give us our weekly Alchemy for Managers Tip

Do you habitually talk about problems, or talk
about solutions?

Problem talk includes descriptions of what the
problems are, analysis of where they came from,
elaboration of the effects they are having, how
people feel about them, and speculation about
what they are leading to. It is any talk that
puts the focus on the problem.

Whereas solutions talk is about what is wanted:
it includes descriptions of how matters will be
when they are the way people want them to be; it
also includes talk of resources, strengths and
skills, of successful examples and of actions
that will help get to the desired state of affairs.

Notice when you do one or the other.

Notice how people react to each.

Notice what happens to the problem, and how you
feel about it.

People who talk about solutions are usually nicer
to be around. They typically have an upbeat and
positive outlook on life, and we all gravitate to
that more than we will ever gravitate to someone
who is just talking about what is wrong.

More on problem talk versus solutions talk, and
some short case studies

James is about to partake in an assessment run by his line manager Graham. The outcome of this assessment will determine whether or not James receives his well deserved promotion. Unfortunately, James doesn’t have the best relationship with his line manager.

James and Graham work very differently and they clash frequently over issues within the office. Despite the fact that James is a very hard working member of the team and always gets the job in question done, he’s concerned that the problems he has with his line manager within their working relationship will impact the outcome of his assessment and therefore his future prospects.

How can James ensure that he gets a fair assessment, when in his mind there is a cloud of doubt as whether Graham will give a well rounded and unbiased view on how he performs? Can Graham guarantee that his assessment of James won’t be biased by prior perceptions or the difficulties that they experience in their working relationship?

James has a need and desire to improve and further himself in his working environment. For him to achieve in this way he needs to have objectives and goals that are measurable. Only then can he ensure he has the right tools at his disposal to forward progression in his career.

Assessments within the workforce are often performed by line managers, in this case Graham. Evaluations such as these are used to identify ways in which one can improve and achieve. The downside with only the line manager running the assessment is that you are left with one perception and potentially inaccurate as a result.

Enter 360 degree feedback. This feedback tool removes the potential problems that can arise when a line manager alone is expected to make an assessment on a member of staff.  Assessments prepared in this way can suffer from a number of problems. What a manager sees an employee as being able to do, or not do could be very different to what that person’s direct reports, peers and colleagues see

So now, as a candidate in a 360 degree feedback review, James can therefore stop worrying about being unfairly assessed. He can guarantee that his appraisal will be an accurate, effective and unbiased view on how he performs.

There’s no doubt about it…..using 360 degree feedback, James most definitely wins the round!

Paul Matthews give us our weekly Alchemy for Managers Tip

If you find out what people want to see at the circus, that’s market research.

If your circus is coming to town and you paint a sign saying “Circus coming to the Fairground Saturday”, that’s advertising.

If you put the sign on the back of an elephant and walk it into town, that’s promotion.

If the elephant walks through the mayor’s flower bed, that’s publicity.

And if you get the mayor to laugh about it, that’s public relations.

If the town’s citizens go to the circus, you show them the many entertainment booths, explain how much fun they’ll have spending money at the booths, answer their questions and, ultimately, they spend a lot at the circus,that’s sales.

It’s all marketing.

All of it.

Which bits of marketing do you get involved with?

Even if it is keeping the elephant fed and watered, it still impacts from a marketing perspective. Would the public want to see a skinny elephant?

Think of what you do and notice how it impacts customers, either immediately or further down the line, and therefore has a marketing aspect.

What does this mean about how you do it?

And if you are in a public sector organisation and think that marketing is not relevant to you… think again.

The seven aspects of marketing

Alchemy for Managers Weekly Tip

Mark Twain said “It is not what we don’t know that gets
us into trouble. It is what we think we know for sure.”

What we think we know for sure becomes a blind spot
because we stop examining it, and we all have these blind
spots. Many of them.

One way to help uncover your blind spots is to ask others
their opinion, especially others who you have difficulty
communicating with or understanding. That difficulty is
probably because they see the world a bit differently to
you, and that means they have valuable information for
you, if only you are prepared to really listen with the
goal of understanding.

Value and use the diversity of thinking that is around
you rather than simply dismiss others as people who
simply can’t or won’t understand.

Ask yourself and them, “What are we each assuming/knowing
about this issue that is different, so we get different
answers?”

Of course, you may still disagree with their view, but you
do now have more insight. And that will make you much more
flexible in your ability to solve problems and then
communicate those solutions to others.

The elephant and the giraffe story

Alchemy for Managers Weekly Tip

Business thrives on reports and most ideas need to be written down at some stage if they’re to be implemented. The more change is going on, the more senior people feel in need of information, and they ask for reports.

If they get a poorly structured and difficult to read report, what would they think of the person who wrote it? On the other hand, when you write a good report, you stand out as a manager. You are seen as someone to be relied upon, someone who can get their thoughts in order; and by implication, someone who can therefore get things done.

It may sound odd, but trust me – the worst way to write a report is to sit down and start writing. Use this approach and you’ll almost certainly lose your thread, bring in irrelevancies and spend hours longer than you need.

Have a look at the link below and notice that writing isn’t mentioned until near the end. By using this step-by-step approach you’ll be able to put together an effective report, reasonably quickly.

Read more about  the report writing process

Alchemy for Managers Weekly Tip – guest post from Paul Matthews.

I met many new people at a wedding last weekend.
And I can’t remember most of their names. Does this happen to you?

For the most part, names are arbitrary. Because the information itself isn’t meaningful, you have to make a special effort to create meaningful
connections in order for the memory to ‘stick’.

Association is one easy way to make these connections and remember more names.

When you meet people, look for a connection to something that is bizarre yet memorable. It might be something they have done, or something about
their appearance. For example, Helen is forever on top of a Tiger Moth as she once did a charity stunt;
Charlie Smith is a picture of Charlie Chaplain with a sign saying SMITH!, while Sally has a tall black hat as she reminds me of a witch.

You have to be careful with this, of course, as you don’t want to let people know if you have an unflattering nickname for them!

Click here for more tips and tools to help you
enhance your memory. Remembering names

It’s widely accepted that as many as 75% of 360-degree feedback participants will rate themselves differently than others score them.  What is the implication of this for leaders?

It’s a real eye opener to learn that our view of ourselves is so very different to how others see us. This can become abundantly clear when partaking in a 360-degree feedback. Honest feedback given by your peers and colleagues from both within and out of your direct working environment, although not necessarily what you’re expecting to hear, provides a clearer view of how ones performance and behaviour may be perceived by others. In the case of leaders, this has real implications for the impact our behaviour has on others. This can be positive, or in some cases, quite debilitating.

However, with the knowledge gained from this type of multi-rater review, we are then able to adjust the way we work and behave in order to reach optimal performance levels – reducing that 75% gap in perception. The more leaders become aware of their performance, the better the overall quality of leadership.

The congruence between ones own perception and that of others is a factor of awareness, and is a critical component of leadership intelligence.  Viewpoints on what defines effective leadership have changed over time.  Early views on Leadership Intelligence hold the theory that leadership success stems from a drive to dominate others, being extroverted and having charisma. However, today, people frequently point to the importance of emotional intelligence, facilitative skills and integrity.

This is where the 360-degree feedback really comes into its own. Using both formal and informal feedback mechanisms incorporated within a 360-degree feedback can help us to understand how our behaviour and leadership skills impact others.  This feedback helps reduce the distortion of self-perception, and increases both performance and relationship effectiveness.